Looking at Paintings

The Getty Center inspires and educates a diverse public through the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art. Throughout the spectacular hilltop facility, visitors can interact with the museum’s interpretive intranet, the “Getty Guide”—an interactive multimedia system with information about works of art in the Getty collection. In it, the Looking at Paintings feature encourages visitors to develop an informed approach to looking at paintings by introducing them to key visual concepts associated with the discipline. From Rogier van der Weyden to Rubens and Renoir, a broad range of paintings by renowned artists are used to explore the concepts of composition, space, light, color, and surface. Through animation, overlays, narration, and special effects, these five principles are intuitively brought to life, inspiring a new way of looking at paintings and deeper appreciation for art.

As visitors watch and listen, they come to understand how a painting’s narrative reading is reinforced through composition; how artists achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface; how light and color can unify elements, imply space, emphasize subjects, illuminate information, and convey a mood or atmosphere; and how surface techniques can demonstrate a mood, suggest shape, density, and movement, or remind the viewer of the making of the artwork. The five distinct Looking at Paintings features are accessible at any of the workstations in the museum. Visitors can experience the short, animated films independently or as one integrated presentation.